He said: “I’ve not done myself any favours in leaning on the seats in the way that I did, and I apologize for that. But there’s no context of me sexually assaulting anyone.”

Davies admitted he felt he was “caught out” when looking at one of the complainant’s texts, causing him to say sorry and move.

But he said he had no sexual purpose regarding that woman, or another woman whose seat he then leaned against.

Davies told the jury his groin was not devoid of feeling and though his body may have knocked into them he didn’t know.

“I had no concept of this being an issue when it was happening,” he said. “If I thought my penis was touching someone I would not do it.”

He repeatedly denied deliberately pushing himself into women’s shoulders.

“I have never purposely leaned into anyone. I have never pushed my penis or my groin into anyone,” he said.

He accepted at the time of the allegations he was a regular commuter.

He said he didn’t touch anyone’s leg and he would be “horrified” of someone did it.

Davies said the likely consequence of that would be a woman saying: “What are you doing you filthy git?”

He said he would never, ever commit sexual assault.

“It absolutely was not me,” he said.

Bath Police Station pictured (Chief superintendent) Gary Davies

15:22

Davies is now being cross-examined by the prosecution

Welcome back, as the defence case continues.

Regarding allegations made by the first complainant, Davies denied touching her leg with his fingers, pressing his “soft penis” into her shoulder or pressing his groin against her backside.

Every time Davies was asked “Was that man you?” he replied: “No it wasn’t”.

He also denied assaults on any other woman train passenger.

Davies is now being cross-examined by the prosecutor for the Crown.

He told the court he had enjoyed his police work but had not sought an “adrenaline rush” in other ways.

He denied having a habit of pressing his genitals against women.

Davies said when he was stopped he was devastated by allegations made against him.

He said he didn’t rely on women not reporting his alleged wrongdoing.

He said his back pain was not an excuse for leaning against seats as he travelled by train.

Gary Davies, 53, arrives at Bristol Crown Court. He is accused of sexually assaulting women on trains between Bristol and Taunton. (Image: SWNS)

13:45

"There were no three consecutive days when I caught the 7.51am"

Davies was interviewed at Keynsham police station.

He said at one point he was put in a cell by himself and he asked for a pen and paper and wrote everything down that had happened in the last hour or so.

When interviewed he was honest and open, he said.

On October 14 he went to the police station and charges were read out which mentioned three events on consecutive days in early December 2015, he told the jury.

Davies said he investigated what he was doing in December 2015, starting with his bank account and confirming every day he bought a £22.50 return train ticket before 9am from Taunton, or a £12.30 off-peak return.

He also checked his work calendar for December 2015, confirming his work pattern.

In early December he was at a conference in Durham, he said, and also went to Leeds

He also established when he worked at home, or events he attended when off work.

He said he was on annual leave from December 24.

Davies said: “There were no three consecutive days when I caught the 7.51am. The only pair of days I travelled to Bristol was on the 9th and 10th of December, when I was chairing a conference.”

He added that there was a pair of days when he took the 7.51am and 10.51am trains from Taunton to Bristol.

The trial has now adjourned until 3pm, so bye for now.

A generic Cross Country train sits at a platform in Temple Meads station.

13:29

“The concept of pushing my groin/penis into anyone is morally against everything I stand for"

Davies explained another photo, taken by the BTP officer, of him leaning against another woman’s seat.

He said he was never conscious of pushing his penis into her shoulder.

Davies said: “The concept of pushing my groin/penis into anyone is morally against everything I stand for. It was the last thing on my mind. When DC Day arrested me for sexually assaulting two women I was absolutely flabbergasted. I never did it and I wouldn’t do it.”

Davies said the BTP officer had claimed he had witnessed him sexually assaulting two women, and he emphatically denied doing so.

He then asked the officer to get CCTV, the court heard.

The BTP officer arrested him, they left the train and went to the BTP office at Bristol Temple Meads.

It was then Davies was told he was also arrested for three allegations of sexual assault on a previous woman “between February and March”, and was handed photos the woman took.

Davies said: “I was stressed out. He said “There’s five (allegations), there’s five. I was just totally stressed by now.”

He was then taken to Keynsham police station, feeling “devastated and horrendous”.

“For me to be arrested. I knew the media, the press .... everything was going to be life-changing,” he said.

A Cross Country leaves Temple Meads station.

13:14

“There is no doubt I ended up knocking into that lady. I didn’t mean to. I’m embarrassed, it was ungentlemanly"

Davies said he bought his train tickets daily, as he never travelled five days a week, and he never booked seats due to work hours flexibility.

He told the jury he would lean against seats - occupied by men and women - or sit in the luggage rack.

He said on May 10 last year he caught the 7.51am from Taunton, from Platform Five.

The station’s CCTV captured him holding a copy of The Times newspaper and a rucksack, and wearing a black sweater and Chino trousers.

He said his cycling jacket was in his rucksack and the train was busy, but he found a free aisle seat.

When a woman said she had booked the seat he headed to the luggage rack, where there was a young girl sat in the middle with a laptop computer, he said.

The jury is being shown covert photos taken by DC Richard Day, of British Transport Police.

Davies said he then moved and leaned against a seat occupied by a woman.

He said: “I stood there for a couple of minutes. I was feeling a bit uncomfortable so I was kind of fidgeting.

“I wasn’t pushing myself into the occupant of the seat. I was leaning forward against the armrest.”

Davies said he probably knocked into the woman, but he wasn’t conscious of it.

He said: “There is no doubt I ended up knocking into that lady. I didn’t mean to. I’m embarrassed, it was ungentlemanly. I was seeking my own comfort at the cost of her. I didn’t do it purposely. There was absolutely no concept of sexual motive.”

A Cross Country train sits at a platform in Temple Meads station.

12:54

“I have never owned a purple jumper of any description”

Davies gets lower backache when standing still, which has got more troublesome.

He said that, as a result, he looks for anywhere he can lean or sit.

Davies said he tends to lean or move from one leg to another in order to give himself relief from back pain.

In some further background about himself he said he did a lot of voluntary work and was a member of Taunton Rotary Club as well as organizing young people’s events.

He said he had stepped down from charity work following the allegations.

He had been living in Taunton and working for Bristol City Council and commuting by train at the time of the allegations, he said.

He said he would commonly catch the 7.51am train for the 30-minute journey.

Davies said he cycled to and from the station and it helped his back condition.

He said he wore a Barbour jacket, Chino trousers, carried a rucksack and wore on his left hip a Bristol City Council ID badge to facilitate swipe door access.

“I have never owned a purple jumper of any description,” he said.

Bath Police Station pictured (Chief superintendent) Gary Davies

12:37

Court hears of back problems suffered by Davies when he was in the police

Davies never had a disciplinary complaint against him in the police, he said.

Before the allegations no woman had claimed he had acted improperly, the court was told, adding he had attended courses into best practice over the years.

Davies told the court in the late 1980s, as a policeman, he suffered two injuries.

One was jumping on a man’s back - impacting his spine - and another was when he opened the door of a stolen car to grab ignition keys, before the driver reversed and he was thrown against a wall.

As a result he suffered hip and lower back problems.

In 1996 a car in front of him stopped and a van crashed into the back of him, leaving him with neck and shoulder injuries.

He said in 2009 he attended a memorial service in Bath and his back seized up, he said.

He said he started going to osteopaths for treatment but it hadn’t seemed to alleviate his problems.

Bath Police Station pictured (Chief superintendent) Gary Davies

12:28

Davies tells of his highly commended police service

Davies, wearing a dark blue suit, has entered the witness box.

He confirmed he’s 54 and married with two boys, one a doctor and one a management consultant.

“I was working for Bristol City Council. I was an Early Intervention Target Support Manager.

“Before that I was in the police service for 33 years, two years as a police cadet, employed by Avon and Somerset Constabulary.

“For the last five or six years I was a Chief Superintendent. I worked as head of CID in Bristol and as a police commander in Bath and North East Somerset.”

The jury heard Davies had his character highly vetted and was commended on several occasions.

In 1994 he was commended for his work in catching and killing a murderer in Bath.

He was also commended for his work in the Louise Smith murder inquiry, which he described as his “proudest moment”.

He told the jury: “I made a promise to her mother I would find her killer. Two years later I was able to sit on a sofa and tell her I had.”

Gary Davies, 53, arrives at Bristol Crown Court. He is accused of sexually assaulting women on trains between Bristol and Taunton. (Image: SWNS)

12:02

Gary Davies' defence case due to start in ten minutes

You have time for a coffee.

Defence case is due to start at 12.10pm and go on until 1.45pm.

The timings have been tailored to facilitate a commitment for presiding judge The Recorder of Bristol His Honour Judge Peter Blair QC.

The Recorder of Bristol His Honour Judge Peter Blair QC

11:42

Gary Davies' defence case is about to start in his trial at Bristol Crown Court

Welcome to day three of the Gary Davies trial.

Anna Midgley, prosecuting, has concluded the case for the Crown, apart from some legal argument in the absence of the jury.

Brian Altman QC, defending, is about to start the case for the defence and is due to call the defendant to the witness box shortly.